A Note on This Salary Guide

Let’s be honest. Architecture salary guides can be confusing.

Look at a few and you’ll quickly notice very different numbers being quoted for the same roles. Some feel optimistic, others feel a bit out of date. That’s not because anyone’s necessarily wrong; it usually comes down to who the data comes from and how it’s been pulled together.

The FAT Recruitment Salary Guide 2025 is based on insight from over 2,000 candidates, live roles, and job offers. That gives us a relatively clear picture of where architecture salaries in London actually sit as we move through 2025 into 2026.

You might notice our figures don’t always match other guides. For example, bodies like RIBA and independent reporters like industry peers and Pay100. Those differences usually reflect things like location, studio size, and how broadly the data has been collected.

Our focus is mainly on London-based practices with 10–100 people, which reflects the majority of studios we work with day to day. We also strip out the extremes — the unusually low figures and the overly optimistic ones — so what’s left is a sensible middle ground and hopefully a helpful guide for architects and practices in London!

London Architecture Salaries 2025–2026

How to Read This Guide

This guide is not here to necessarily tell you what you should earn or pay your staff. It is here to give you a reference point.

Yes, salaries are grouped by years of experience. But anyone working in architecture knows that experience is not that simple. Two people with the same number of years in practice can bring completely different levels of value to a studio.

For example:

• If you spent several years working as a Part II before qualifying, you will usually command a higher starting salary as a newly qualified Architect than someone with less in-practice experience.

• If you are genuinely strong in Revit or BIM, that skill is often worth more than another year on a CV.

• If you specialise in a particular sector, such as commercial workplace, and you are moving into a similar role, you are likely to command more than someone with the same years of experience but a different background.

• Some people have delivered projects from concept through to completion, managed consultants and dealt directly with clients. Others may be more focused on feasibility or early design stages. That difference matters.

So no, salaries are not based on years alone. And they never have been.

A Note on Job Titles and Levels

Another thing worth saying is that architecture doesn't seem to have a universal set of role definitions.

Titles such as Part II, Architect, Project Architect, Senior Architect and Associate can mean very different things depending on the size, structure and culture of a practice. What counts as a Senior Architect in a small studio may look very different in a large, corporate practice.

That is why in this guide we aimed to focus on benchmarks rather than specific role definitions.

In our next report, we will be taking this a step further by analysing hundreds of job descriptions we have worked with over the years. The aim is to provide a clearer, more consistent overview of what each level in architecture typically involves, alongside suggested performance indicators for each.

This will be designed to help with:

• Salary negotiations

• Career planning and progression

• Understanding transparent expectations at each level

Why Benchmarks Still Matter

Despite all of this nuance, architectural salary benchmarks still matter.

They help employers sense-check existing salaries and new offers. They help candidates understand the market and their value. And they give everyone a starting point for more informed conversations.

Think of this guide as a map, not a rulebook. It shows the general market, but where you land on it will always depend on your skills, experience, exposure, and the value you bring to a role.

And if you want help working that out, that is where we come in 😊